The contribution of peat compaction to total basin subsidence: implications for the provision of accommodation space in organic-rich deltas

Abstract

ABSTRACT Provision of accommodation space for aggradation in Holocene deltaic basins is usually ascribed to eustatic sea‐level rise and/or land subsidence due to isostasy, tectonics or sediment compaction. Whereas many Holocene deltas contain peat, the relative contribution of peat compaction to total subsidence has not yet been quantified from field data covering an entire delta. Subsidence due to peat compaction potentially influences temporal and spatial sedimentation patterns, and therefore alluvial architecture. Quantification of the amount and rate of peat compaction was done based on (1) estimates of the initial dry bulk density of peat, derived from a relation between dry bulk density and organic‐matter content of uncompacted peat samples and (2) radiocarbon‐dated basal peat used to reconstruct initial levels of peat formation of currently subsided peat samples. In the Rhine‐Meuse delta, peat compaction has contributed considerably to total basin subsidence. Depending on the thickness of the compressible sequence, weight of the overburden and organic‐matter content of peat, subsidence of up to approximately 3 m in a 10‐m thick Holocene sequence has been calculated. Calculated local subsidence rates of peat levels are up to 0.6 mm year−1, averaged over millennia, which are twice the estimated Holocene‐averaged basin subsidence rates of 0.1–0.3 mm year−1 in the study area. Higher rates of subsidence due to compaction, on the order of a few mm year−1, occur over decades to centuries, following a substantial increase in effective stress caused by sediment loading. Without such an increase in effective stress, peat layers may accumulate for thousands of years with little compaction. Thus, the contribution of peat compaction to total delta subsidence is variable in time. Locally, up to 40% of total Holocene accommodation space has been provided by peat compaction. Implications of the large amount of accommodation space created by peat compaction in deltaic basins are: (1) increased sediment trap efficiency in deltas, which decelerates delta progradation and enhances the formation of relatively thick clastic sequences and (2) enhanced local formation of thick natural levees by renewing existing accommodation space.